{
    "id": 40495,
    "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/small-missions/",
    "page_type": "Gallery",
    "title": "Small Missions",
    "description": "Not every NASA mission is the size and cost of Hubble or Webb.  Many important instruments and missions are quite small and use less expensive methods to reach space or even simply get above most of the atmosphere.",
    "release_date": "2023-08-10T00:00:00-04:00",
    "update_date": "2026-01-07T00:00:00-05:00",
    "main_image": {
        "id": 858891,
        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/SmallMissions/SmallMissionSRThumb_320x180.jpg",
        "filename": "SmallMissionSRThumb_320x180.jpg",
        "media_type": "Image",
        "alt_text": "",
        "width": 180,
        "height": 320,
        "pixels": 57600
    },
    "media_groups": [
        {
            "id": 371653,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/small-missions/#media_group_371653",
            "widget": "Basic text (large)",
            "title": "Overview",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "Not every NASA mission is the size and cost of Hubble or Webb.  Many important instruments and missions are quite small and use less expensive methods to reach space or even simply get above most of the atmosphere.",
            "items": [],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 371654,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/small-missions/#media_group_371654",
            "widget": "Card gallery",
            "title": "Sounding Rockets",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "Sounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment.",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 503758,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14628,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14628/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Discovering Earth’s Third Global Energy Field",
                        "description": "High above the Earth’s North and South Poles, a steady stream of particles escapes from our atmosphere into space. Scientists call this mysterious outflow the “polar wind,” and for almost 60 years, spacecraft have been flying through it as scientists have theorized about its cause. The leading theory was that a planet-wide electric field was drawing those particles up into space. But this so-called ambipolar electric field, if it exists, is so weak that all attempts to measure it have failed – until now.In 2022, scientists traveled to Svalbard, a small archipelago in Norway, to launch a rocket in an attempt to measure Earth’s ambipolar electric field for the first time. This was NASA’s Endurance rocketship mission, and this is its story.To learn more, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-discovers-long-sought-global-electric-field-on-earth/ || ",
                        "release_date": "2024-08-28T11:30:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2024-08-28T11:37:52.179001-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 1096850,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014600/a014628/Thumbnail02.jpg",
                            "filename": "Thumbnail02.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Discovering Earth's Third Global Energy FieldWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music credit: \"Atoms in Motion\" by Phillip John Gregory [PRS], “Curious By Nature” by Eddie Saffron [PRS], “Perfect Vibes” by Thomas Gallicani [SACEM], “Natural Response” by Jonathan Elisa [ASCAP] and Sarah Trevino [ASCAP] from Universal Production MusicSound effects: Pixabay",
                            "width": 1280,
                            "height": 720,
                            "pixels": 921600
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412654,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14362,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14362/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "High Above Down Under Series",
                        "description": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023. || ",
                        "release_date": "2023-06-13T12:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-08-09T11:01:09.942215-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 857108,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3.jpg",
                            "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "High Above Down Under Series TrailerWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.There are likely billions of planets in our galaxy. With over 5,000 already confirmed, how do we know which ones might hold life?Two NASA sounding rockets are launching from Australia to find out which stars make for habitable hosts. We’re following those rocket teams Down Under to show you what it takes to launch a rocket and make groundbreaking scientific measurements. Hang on tight – we’re going on an adventure High Above Down Under!Music Credit: \"Epic Earth\" by Andy Hopkins (PRS), Dean Mahoney (PRS), Jacob Nicholas Stonewall Jackson (PRS) via Universal Production Music",
                            "width": 1280,
                            "height": 720,
                            "pixels": 921600
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412655,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 13932,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13932/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Riding Along With a NASA Sounding Rocket (2021)",
                        "description": "On Sept. 9, 2021, a sounding rocket launched from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, carrying a copy of the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE. This flight was used to calibrate the identical version of EVE that has flown in space since 2010 aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Over the years, the space-based EVE has become degraded by intense sunlight, so scientists fly periodic calibration missions to keep EVE’s measurements sharp. || ",
                        "release_date": "2021-09-15T10:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:43:56.936867-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 376873,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013900/a013932/13932_Rocket_EVE_36.353_Highlights_2.5_minutes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "13932_Rocket_EVE_36.353_Highlights_2.5_minutes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Short version:This highlight reel shows a selection of footage from the EVE sounding rocket flight and payload recovery, played at different speeds to highlight different parts of the flight. See the same footage in real-time on NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. \r\r00:00 - 00:02 Real-time footage.  \r\r00:03 - 00:12 Slowed down to quarter speed (0.25x) to show the launch. The shadow of the rocket and the exhaust plume behind it are visible. \r\r00:12 - 00:28 Sped up twenty times faster (20x). Data is not taken during this time while the rocket flies towards space. The white patch visible on the ground is White Sands National Park.  \r\rWhy is the rocket spinning? These rockets use solid fuel. That means that any irregularities in the density cause the rocket to have a little more thrust in one direction. If nothing was done, this would mean the rocket would start veering off course. By spinning it the rocket, any bit of thrust that isn’t perfectly aligned with the long axis of the rocket gets averaged out: There’s a little too much thrust to the front, then to the left, then to the back, then to the right, over and over. The team uses controllable fins and sensors and software that can guide the rocket to go north along the range, rather than some other direction. \r\r00:27 Two thin lines pop out in the aft view. Those are cables with weights on the end. Just like a spinning ice skater moving their arms out, they slow the spin. \r\r00:28 - 00:49 Sped up to 2x. The second stage motor (Black Brant) gets ejected and falls back to the missile range. It’s the black thing tumbling below in the aft view. \r\r00:49 - 01:03 Sped up to 30x. The rocket orients itself so that the instruments are pointing at the Sun and the shutter door is opened. This is when measurements are taken. Pointing control here is extremely good: about one arcsecond pointing accuracy, which is like being in LA and landing a laser on the Washington Monument. \r\r01:03 - 01:11 Sped up to 20x. The shutter door is closed, and the rocket is intentionally tumbled. The rocket is re-entering the atmosphere, so if any one spot of the rocket was constantly taking the brunt of the friction from air, it would do serious damage. Tumbling spreads out that heat load. \r\r01:11 - 01:25 Real-time, and then sped up to 4x. The drogue, and then the parachute, are deployed. \r\r01:25 - 01:33 Real-time. In the aft view, you can see the shadow of the rocket and the parachute. \r\r01:33 - 01:34 Sped up to 8x. Coming down. \r\r01:34. Landing! \r\r01:40 - 02:16 Footage is played at various speeds while the team recovers the payload. \r\r02:16 - end: This is what some of the data looked like. The yellow-tinted movie of the Sun is from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, and shows what the Sun looked like during the flight at one of the wavelengths measured (17.1 nm). This rocket flight was to calibrate a different instrument – EVE – on SDO, which is then also used to calibrate the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. \r\rVideo and annotation credit: NASA/University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/James Mason\r",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412656,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 13171,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13171/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Grand Challenge Initiative - Cusp: Launch Photos & Videos",
                        "description": "AZURE MissionColorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientist to measure auroral winds.Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield || Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg (1024x682) [97.8 KB] || Azure_ampule_release.jpg (2400x1600) [346.6 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_searchweb.png (320x180) [54.6 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_web.png (320x213) [67.1 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_thm.png (80x40) [4.6 KB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2019-04-09T15:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:01.877806-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 396563,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013171/Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "AZURE MissionColorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientist to measure auroral winds.Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 682,
                            "pixels": 698368
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412657,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 12598,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12598/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Sounding Rockets Highlights",
                        "description": "NASA Launches Sounding Rockets to Study AuroraMusic credit: Trial by Gresby Race Nash [PRS] from Killer Tracks. || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg (1024x682) [134.2 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.7 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_web.png (320x213) [92.8 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_thm.png (80x40) [5.3 KB] || 12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER.mov (1152x768) [579.8 MB] || PRORES_B-ROLL-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_prores.mov (1280x720) [590.8 MB] || APPLE_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [41.0 MB] || NASA_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER.mpeg (1280x720) [280.2 MB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.mp4 (1152x768) [85.0 MB] || YOUTUBE_HQ-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_youtube_hq.mov (1152x768) [105.8 MB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.webm (1152x768) [8.9 MB] || APPLE_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [41.1 MB] || soundingrockets-v14.en_US.srt [1.1 KB] || soundingrockets-v14.en_US.vtt [1.1 KB] || NASA_PODCAST-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [14.1 MB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2017-05-04T10:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:42.294724-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 414537,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012500/a012598/LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "NASA Launches Sounding Rockets to Study AuroraMusic credit: Trial by Gresby Race Nash [PRS] from Killer Tracks.",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 682,
                            "pixels": 698368
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412658,
                    "type": "gallery_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 40363,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/",
                        "page_type": "Gallery",
                        "title": "Sounding Rockets",
                        "description": "\nFor over 40 years, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program has provided critical scientific, technical, and educational contributions to the nation's space program and is one of the most robust, versatile, and cost-effective flight programs at NASA. \n\nSounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment. The short time and low vehicle speeds are more than adequate (in some cases they are ideal) to carry out a successful scientific experiments. Furthermore, there are some important regions of space that are too low for satellites and thus sounding rockets provide the only platforms that can carry out measurements in these regions.\n\nGo to NASA.gov for the latest sounding rocket news.",
                        "release_date": "2019-05-09T00:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2026-01-07T00:00:00-05:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 858880,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/SmallMissions/More_Info.jpg",
                            "filename": "More_Info.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "\nFor over 40 years, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program has provided critical scientific, technical, and educational contributions to the nation's space program and is one of the most robust, versatile, and cost-effective flight programs at NASA. \n\nSounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment. The short time and low vehicle speeds are more than adequate (in some cases they are ideal) to carry out a successful scientific experiments. Furthermore, there are some important regions of space that are too low for satellites and thus sounding rockets provide the only platforms that can carry out measurements in these regions.\n\nGo to NASA.gov for the latest sounding rocket news.",
                            "width": 180,
                            "height": 320,
                            "pixels": 57600
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 503759,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14944,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14944/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Black Aurora Rocket Instrument Testing at NASA Goddard",
                        "description": "NASA’s Black and Diffuse Aurora Science Surveyor sounding rocket mission has completed its testing campaign at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, ahead of its launch.  Sounding rocket missions like this one are suborbital rockets that fly scientific instruments into near-Earth space for short, approximately 15-minute flights. The mission will study so-called “black auroras,” dark patches and stripes that appear within an aurora. Previous research has hinted that they may be formed by electrons going upward escaping back out into space (rather than the absence of any electrons). The visible aurora is formed by an incoming downward stream of electrons. Scientists want to solve the puzzle as to why these patches and stripes form within the visible aurora. From Goddard, the instruments were delivered to Wallops Flight Facility, where they – along with the entire rocket payload – will be shipped to the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the team aims to fly their rocket through black aurora. Onboard instruments will survey the electron populations as they fly through them to understand how and why these black patches and stripes form within the visible aurora. The mission is scheduled for launch no earlier than February 2026. || ",
                        "release_date": "2026-01-06T16:00:00-05:00",
                        "update_date": "2025-02-18T10:38:59.752697-05:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 1195443,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014900/a014944/14944_BADASS_InstrumentWorkBench_4k_ProRes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "14944_BADASS_InstrumentWorkBench_4k_ProRes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "B-RollDanjing Chen, mechanical engineer for the mission, reassembles the CHIMPS instrument ahead of vacuum testing in the ITM Electronics Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Video Credit: NASA/Lacey Young",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 371655,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/small-missions/#media_group_371655",
            "widget": "Card gallery",
            "title": "Balloons",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "Balloons have been used for decades to conduct scientific studies. They can be launched from locations across the globe and are a low-cost method to carry payloads with instruments that conduct scientific observations.",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 503763,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14429,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14429/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "NASA's Scientific Balloon Program",
                        "description": "Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, NASA’s Balloon Program has provided high-altitude scientific balloon platforms for scientific and technological investigations, including fundamental scientific discoveries that contribute to our understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe. This short video highlights several key discoveries made with NASA's scientific balloons.Visit nasa.gov/scientificballoons to learn more! || ",
                        "release_date": "2023-10-14T13:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-12-01T13:37:29.200682-05:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 859693,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014400/a014429/14429_Balloon_Program_thumbnail.jpg",
                            "filename": "14429_Balloon_Program_thumbnail.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "NASA's Scientific Balloon Program OverviewComplete transcript available.Music Credit: “Enviro Tense” by Max Van Thun [GEMA] via Universal Production Music",
                            "width": 1280,
                            "height": 720,
                            "pixels": 921600
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412659,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14373,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14373/",
                        "page_type": "Infographic",
                        "title": "ComPair Infographic",
                        "description": "Explore this infographic to learn more about ComPair and scientific ballooning.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMachine-readable PDF copy || ComPair_Infographic_Final.jpg (5100x6600) [3.3 MB] || ComPair_Infographic_Final.png (5100x6600) [11.7 MB] || ComPair_Infographic_Final-half.jpg (2550x3300) [1.3 MB] || ComPair_Infographic_Final-half.png (2550x3300) [3.8 MB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2023-08-08T10:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-08-09T13:12:03-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 857254,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014373/ComPair_Thumbnail_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "ComPair_Thumbnail_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "These elements from the infographic above show the ComPair instrument on the left and its location on the gondola on the right.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412660,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14197,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14197/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Scientists in the Field",
                        "description": "Video compiliations of NASA scientists and partners working in the field. Available to download. || Researchers in volcanic regions. Footage from GIFT in Hawaii. || Compilation2-MaunaLoa.00015_print.jpg (1024x576) [166.4 KB] || Compilation2-MaunaLoa.00015_searchweb.png (320x180) [102.7 KB] || Compilation2-MaunaLoa.00015_thm.png (80x40) [7.6 KB] || Compilation2-MaunaLoa.webm (3840x2160) [57.4 MB] || Compilation2-MaunaLoa.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.1 GB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2022-08-08T14:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T11:44:04.089738-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 369836,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014100/a014197/Compilation2-MaunaLoa.00015_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "Compilation2-MaunaLoa.00015_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Researchers in volcanic regions. Footage from GIFT in Hawaii.",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412661,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 13291,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13291/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "NASA’s New Solar Scope Is Ready For Balloon Flight",
                        "description": "NASA and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, or KASI, are getting ready to test a new way to see the Sun, high over the New Mexico desert. A pearlescent balloon — large enough to hug a football field — is scheduled to take flight no earlier than Aug. 26, 2019, carrying beneath it a solar scope called BITSE. BITSE is a coronagraph, a kind of telescope that blocks the Sun’s bright face in order to reveal its dimmer atmosphere, called the corona. Short for Balloon-borne Investigation of Temperature and Speed of Electrons in the corona, BITSE seeks to explain how the Sun spits out the solar wind. || ",
                        "release_date": "2019-08-23T11:30:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2020-01-23T07:22:34-05:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 393657,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013200/a013291/BITSE_ReadyForFlight_YouTube.00283_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "BITSE_ReadyForFlight_YouTube.00283_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Music credit: \"Gear Wheels\" by Fabrice Ravel Chapuis [SACEM] from Killer Tracks Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412662,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 12968,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12968/",
                        "page_type": "Infographic",
                        "title": "PIPER Infographic",
                        "description": "The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER) is a NASA scientific balloon mission that will fly to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere to study twisty patterns of light in the universe’s “baby picture.” This infographic highlights some facts about PIPER’s instruments, capabilities and goals.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMachine-readable PDF copy || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL_Medium.jpg (1500x1941) [902.2 KB] || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL_Small.jpg (1000x1294) [469.6 KB] || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL.jpg (5100x6600) [6.6 MB] || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL.png (5100x6600) [15.3 MB] || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL_half.jpg (2550x3300) [1.7 MB] || PIPER_Infographic_FINAL_half.png (2550x3300) [6.9 MB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2018-09-11T10:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-08-03T12:58:14.418726-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 400440,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012900/a012968/PIPER_Still_16x9_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "PIPER_Still_16x9_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER) is a NASA scientific balloon mission that will study twisty patterns of light in the cosmic microwave background — a faint glow permeating the universe in all directions and leftover from the period following the big bang.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412663,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 12262,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12262/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "NASA Launches Super-Pressure Balloon",
                        "description": "NASA successfully launched a super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, (7:35 p.m. EDT Monday, May 16) on a potentially record-breaking, around-the-world test flight.The balloon flies at an altitude of about 110,000 feet, in a layer of Earth's atmosphere known as the stratosphere.The purpose of the flight is to test and validate the SPB technology with the goal of long-duration flight (100+ days) at mid-latitudes. In addition, the gondola is carrying the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) gamma-ray telescope as a mission of opportunity.Another mission of opportunity is the Carolina Infrasound instrument, a small, 3-kilogram payload with infrasound microphones designed to record acoustic wave field activity in the stratosphere. Developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, previous balloon flights of the instrument have recorded low-frequency sounds in the stratosphere, some of which are believed to be new to science.As the balloon travels around the Earth, it may be visible from the ground, particularly at sunrise and sunset, to those who live in the southern hemisphere’s mid-latitudes, such as Argentina and South Africa.NASA’s scientific balloons offer low-cost, near-space access for conducting scientific investigations in fields such as astrophysics, heliophysics and atmospheric research.NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. Orbital ATK, which operates NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services and field operations for NASA’s scientific balloon program. The CSBF team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons in the over 35 years of operation.Track the flight's progress in real-time here. || ",
                        "release_date": "2016-05-19T19:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:48:36.418353-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 424144,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012200/a012262/YOUTUBE_HQ-12262_Balloons1080_youtube_hq.00001_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "YOUTUBE_HQ-12262_Balloons1080_youtube_hq.00001_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: The Answer by Laurent Levesque in the KillerTracks catalog.",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412664,
                    "type": "gallery_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 40491,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/balloons/",
                        "page_type": "Gallery",
                        "title": "Balloons",
                        "description": "Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, the NASA Balloon Program has provided high-altitude scientific balloon platforms for scientific and technological investigations, including fundamental scientific discoveries that contribute to our understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe.\n\nBalloons have been used for decades to conduct scientific studies. They can be launched from locations across the globe and are a low-cost method to carry payloads with instruments that conduct scientific observations.\n\nThe primary objective of the NASA Balloon Program is to provide high altitude scientific balloon platforms for scientific and technological investigations.\n\nThese investigations include fundamental scientific discoveries that contribute to our understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe. Scientific balloons also provide a platform for the demonstration of promising new instrument and spacecraft technologies that enable or enhance the objectives for the Science Mission Directorate Strategic Plan.",
                        "release_date": "2023-08-02T00:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2025-03-11T00:00:00-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 858880,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/SmallMissions/More_Info.jpg",
                            "filename": "More_Info.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "\nFor over 40 years, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program has provided critical scientific, technical, and educational contributions to the nation's space program and is one of the most robust, versatile, and cost-effective flight programs at NASA. \n\nSounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment. The short time and low vehicle speeds are more than adequate (in some cases they are ideal) to carry out a successful scientific experiments. Furthermore, there are some important regions of space that are too low for satellites and thus sounding rockets provide the only platforms that can carry out measurements in these regions.\n\nGo to NASA.gov for the latest sounding rocket news.",
                            "width": 180,
                            "height": 320,
                            "pixels": 57600
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        },
        {
            "id": 371656,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/small-missions/#media_group_371656",
            "widget": "Card gallery",
            "title": "CubeSats",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites that use a standard size and form factor. CubeSats now provide a cost effective platform for science investigations, new technology demonstrations and advanced mission concepts using constellations, swarms disaggregated systems.",
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": 412665,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 20371,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20371/",
                        "page_type": "Animation",
                        "title": "BurstCube Animations",
                        "description": "BurstCube is a mission under development at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This CubeSat will detect short gamma-ray bursts, which are important sources for gravitational wave discoveries and multimessenger astronomy. The satellite is expected to launch in 2023. || ",
                        "release_date": "2022-10-28T14:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T11:43:54.376872-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 369461,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020300/a020371/BurstCube_360Y_30fps_4444ProRes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "BurstCube_360Y_30fps_4444ProRes.00001_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "This animation rotates BustCube to reveal the spacecraft’s narrowest sides, as well as both sides of the solar panels. The panels will be folded down and latched until the satellite leaves the International Space Station, after which they will deploy. Look for the side displaying the BurstCube logo. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab\r",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 1280,
                            "pixels": 1310720
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412666,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 14195,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14195/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "Artemis I",
                        "description": "NASA’s Artemis missions are returning humanity to the Moon and beginning a new era of lunar exploration. This year, the agency plans to launch the Artemis I mission, an uncrewed test flight that will take a human-rated spacecraft farther than any before. || ",
                        "release_date": "2022-08-08T12:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-05-03T11:44:04.183322-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 369976,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014100/a014195/LunarIceCube.jpg",
                            "filename": "LunarIceCube.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "NASA’s water-scouting CubeSat is now poised to hitch a ride to lunar orbit. Not much bigger than a shoe box, Lunar IceCube’s data will have an outsized impact on lunar science. The satellite is integrated into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and ready to journey to the Moon as part of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, slated for launch in 2022. Music is from Epidemic Sound via iStockComplete transcript available.",
                            "width": 480,
                            "height": 360,
                            "pixels": 172800
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412667,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 20338,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20338/",
                        "page_type": "Animation",
                        "title": "SunRISE Beauty Pass",
                        "description": "A coronal mass ejection (CME) erupts from the Sun and sends Type II radio bursts ahead of it. SunRISE measures the radio bursts and transmits the data to NASA’s Deep Space Network. Type II radio bursts are the earliest indicators of shocks from a solar eruption and can provide information on solar energetic particle (SEP) events. || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.00240_print.jpg (1024x576) [172.5 KB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.00240_searchweb.png (320x180) [87.2 KB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.00240_thm.png (80x40) [5.9 KB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.mov (3840x2160) [695.8 MB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_h264.mp4 (3840x2160) [13.7 MB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k (3840x2160) [32.0 KB] || SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.webm (3840x2160) [5.3 MB] || ",
                        "release_date": "2020-12-08T15:00:00-05:00",
                        "update_date": "2023-08-15T16:23:32.441173-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 381103,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020300/a020338/SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.00240_print.jpg",
                            "filename": "SUNRISE-shot1_v06_4k_30fps_ProRes422.00240_print.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "A coronal mass ejection (CME) erupts from the Sun and sends Type II radio bursts ahead of it. SunRISE measures the radio bursts and transmits the data to NASA’s Deep Space Network. Type II radio bursts are the earliest indicators of shocks from a solar eruption and can provide information on solar energetic particle (SEP) events. ",
                            "width": 1024,
                            "height": 576,
                            "pixels": 589824
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412668,
                    "type": "details_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 12957,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12957/",
                        "page_type": "Produced Video",
                        "title": "During a Year in Orbit, IceCube Created a New Map of Earth's Clouds",
                        "description": "Music: Charming Noise by Adrien Sahuc [SACEM], Benjamin Sahuc [SACEM]Complete transcript available. || Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM.png (1536x858) [868.8 KB] || Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM_print.jpg (1024x572) [51.8 KB] || Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM_searchweb.png (320x180) [39.5 KB] || Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM_thm.png (80x40) [3.9 KB] || 12957_IceCube.webm (960x540) [31.6 MB] || 12957_IceCube_large.mp4 (1920x1080) [80.1 MB] || 12957_IceCube.en_US.srt [1.2 KB] || 12957_IceCube.en_US.vtt [1.2 KB] || YOUTUBE_1080_12957_IceCube_youtube_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [127.0 MB] || a012957_IceCubeviz_textfree.mov (1920x1080) [2.1 GB] || during-a-year-in-orbit-icecube-created-a-new-map-of-earths-clouds.hwshow [365 bytes] || ",
                        "release_date": "2018-05-15T10:00:00-04:00",
                        "update_date": "2024-10-10T00:17:20.839048-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 403973,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012900/a012957/Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM.png",
                            "filename": "Screen_Shot_2018-05-14_at_5.20.10_PM.png",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "Music: Charming Noise by Adrien Sahuc [SACEM], Benjamin Sahuc [SACEM]Complete transcript available.",
                            "width": 1536,
                            "height": 858,
                            "pixels": 1317888
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 412669,
                    "type": "gallery_page",
                    "extra_data": null,
                    "instance": {
                        "id": 40457,
                        "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/cube-sats/",
                        "page_type": "Gallery",
                        "title": "CubeSats",
                        "description": "CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites that use a standard size and form factor.  The standard CubeSat size uses a \"one unit\" or \"1U\" measuring 10x10x10 cms and is extendable to larger sizes; 1.5, 2, 3, 6, and even 12U.  Originally developed in 1999 by California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and Stanford University to provide a platform for education and space exploration.  The development of CubeSats has advanced into it's own industry with government, industry and academia collaborating for ever increasing capabilities.  CubeSats now provide a cost effective platform for science investigations, new technology demonstrations and advanced mission concepts using constellations, swarms disaggregated systems.",
                        "release_date": "2023-02-03T00:00:00-05:00",
                        "update_date": "2024-07-24T00:00:00-04:00",
                        "main_image": {
                            "id": 858880,
                            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/SmallMissions/More_Info.jpg",
                            "filename": "More_Info.jpg",
                            "media_type": "Image",
                            "alt_text": "\nFor over 40 years, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program has provided critical scientific, technical, and educational contributions to the nation's space program and is one of the most robust, versatile, and cost-effective flight programs at NASA. \n\nSounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment. The short time and low vehicle speeds are more than adequate (in some cases they are ideal) to carry out a successful scientific experiments. Furthermore, there are some important regions of space that are too low for satellites and thus sounding rockets provide the only platforms that can carry out measurements in these regions.\n\nGo to NASA.gov for the latest sounding rocket news.",
                            "width": 180,
                            "height": 320,
                            "pixels": 57600
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "extra_data": {}
        }
    ]
}